Stalked by Death tod-2

by Kelly Hashway

  Chapter 23

  Chase got so into kissing me that he stopped using his power. That was all I needed to pull away from him. I pushed my hand against his chest and backed up. I gasped for air, and my eyes instantly flew to Alex. He was looking away, but I could see his jaw was clenched. I couldn’t even imagine how I’d feel if I saw him kissing another girl, even if he did hate her the way I hated Chase.

  “I guess we should go train.” Chase’s smile was much wider than necessary. He put his hand on my back and I jumped, not knowing if he was going to use his powers on me again, or which power he’d choose if he did. Alex jerked his head in my direction, ready to defend me if Chase hurt me, but Chase only pushed me toward the door. He’d done what he’d set out to. Alex was trying to put on a strong face, but I could tell he was dying inside. I had a feeling Chase knew it, too.

  Training was nothing short of awful, and not just because the Serpentarius Ophi were struggling to get control over the souls. Chase wouldn’t let go of me. He didn’t use his powers—unless being an overbearing wannabe boyfriend was a power. Alex trained with Jared, mostly to avoid Chase and me, although he said it was because Jared was the most advanced of the newcomers. The worst part was that I was forced to combine powers with Chase and work on making our connection stronger and more manageable.

  “Can we please try something less evil this time?” I stepped out from under Chase’s arm, which had been draped across my shoulders since we’d walked out of the school.

  “Evil?” Chase laughed. “Jodi, we’re necromancers. What we do isn’t exactly pretty, but it’s not evil. These souls aren’t alive. Besides, we’re giving most of them a break from Hell. I think it’s actually pretty nice of us.”

  Of course he did. “Yeah, well it makes me feel evil torturing them like that.”

  “Like what? Making them dig their own graves? Would you rather spend valuable training time digging?”

  When he put it like that, it didn’t seem so bad. “Okay, but no more making corpses stab themselves. That’s cruel, and I don’t want anything to do with it.”

  Chase smiled at me and cupped the side of my neck in his right hand. “When are you going to realize that what I do is a direct reflection of the way you are making me feel? When you get me angry, I do bad things. So, don’t make me angry.” He looked over my shoulder, and I assumed Alex was watching us because Chase pulled me to him and kissed me. It wasn’t a long kiss, just enough so Alex would notice.

  I didn’t object even though Chase kept his power to himself. He’d made it clear that, if I upset him, he was going to make me torture more souls. I didn’t want that.

  “What should we start with?” he asked me. I was taken aback. Sure, I was the one in charge of the Ophi, but Chase was used to controlling me and calling the shots. Why was he asking me for direction here?

  I couldn’t waste this opportunity. I had to push the limits of our connection, but in a way that wouldn’t get us in trouble with Hades or cause too much pain to the souls we raised. “What if we tried to raise a soul and put it in someone else’s body?” I wasn’t even sure where that idea had come from. Maybe it was my way of seeing if I could raise my dad again now that Hades had his body.

  “Put them in the wrong bodies? That’s kind of sick.” Chase smiled. “I like it, babe.” He put one arm around me and squeezed. “See, when you cooperate, we make an awesome team.”

  I stared at his hand on my arm. I hated how he scared me so much. I looked up and met Alex’s eyes. He was watching me so intently. He had to stop, or Chase was going to get pissed—and I’d probably be the one he took it out on.

  “I want to try to raise my dad,” I said, “but I’d rather start with another soul that Hades took first. I want to make sure we can do this right before I put my dad’s soul through this.”

  Chase looked at me, and for a second I thought he actually sympathized with me. Like he cared about me and understood why I wanted to get my dad’s soul back. He took my hand in his, and this time I didn’t cringe in fear.

  “You’re different right now,” I said.

  “I get that you don’t want Hades to have your dad’s body. It makes sense. I’ll do what I can to help you get him back.”

  “Really?” I searched his eyes, trying to see if this was a trick, but he looked sincere.

  He let go of my hands. “I’m not faking my feelings for you, Jodi, and I was serious when I said that if you choose me—really choose me—we’ll make the greatest Ophi team ever.” He leaned into me, and even with no power surging between us, I reached up on my toes and kissed him lightly on his lips.

  “I wish you were always like this.”

  “That’s really up to you.” He turned his head slightly, and I followed his gaze to Alex, who was staring at us with hatred in his eyes. “And him.”

  I looked away from Alex. He’d seen me kiss Chase, and since Chase hadn’t been touching me, Alex must have known I wasn’t being controlled. The action was completely my doing. I wasn’t even sure why I’d done it. Chase was right, though. Something about us made sense. At least in an Ophi way.

  “See, but it’s things like that just now, that look of shame on your face knowing that he saw you kiss me, that make me crazy, Jodi. Why do you have to make me want to hurt you?” He grabbed my wrist, threatening to use his poisoned blood on me.

  “Chase, please. I can’t pretend I didn’t love him. That doesn’t go away overnight. You came after me the second Alex said he was leaving. You didn’t give me a chance to get over him.”

  “Being with me should be enough to make you forget him.” He squeezed my wrist harder, but he still held his powers back.

  Alex must have seen the fear on my face because he started walking toward us. Luckily, Chase was too focused on me to notice. I had to defuse the situation before Alex started a fight I couldn’t get him out of.

  My eyes welled up with tears. “Chase, don’t. Be the guy that made me want to kiss him. Don’t you want me to come to you without you controlling me? Give me a chance.”

  Chase loosened his grip on me. Alex stopped short, no doubt because I had admitted I wanted to kiss Chase earlier.

  “Can we concentrate on our training, please? It’ll be just you and me. The way you like it.” I reached for his hand, lacing my fingers through his. For the first time, I tried transferring my power to him. He cocked his head to the side, and I knew he felt the life-restoring power I was sending him. I kept the dose light, not wanting him to react the way I usually did when he dosed me with this kind of power.

  “I’ve never been on the receiving end before—except for when I was connected to the Medusa statue.” He stepped closer to me. “I prefer the energy coming from you.”

  “Good. Then let’s try this.”

  He nodded. “Any clue how we put a soul in another person’s body?”

  Not really, but I was hoping it wasn’t too much different than returning a soul to its own body. “Let’s reach out for one of the souls Hades took. Once we have him or her, we can use our combined powers to command the soul into the body we choose.”

  “Okay, which corpse did you want to use?”

  “Any one but the one we had stab himself. I don’t want to bring the soul any extra pain. I have no idea what this is going to do to it.”

  Chase picked another grave and stood on one side of it. I stood on the other. We reached our hands over the grave and joined them in the middle. I could feel everyone’s eyes on us. They knew we were trying something different, and they were all definitely interested.

  “Ready?” I asked Chase.

  “Should I transfer power to you first?”

  I didn’t know why, but I had a feeling this would require a give and take. “We’ll transfer power to each other at the same time. You push your power to me through your right hand and into my left. I’ll do the same to you. The power should circle between us that way.”

  “Sounds cool. But what kind of power?”

 
; “We need to mix our blood so it’s at full strength.”

  “What do you mean? When we combine powers, we are mixing our blood.”

  I shook my head. “No, I mean I’m going to mix my blood before transferring my power to you. I want you to do the same.”

  He shrugged. “I can’t. You’re the only Ophi who can, Jodi. I can only give you a concentrated dose of one side of my blood.”

  I knew that all too well. He’d been dosing me pretty much since he got here. “You’re not like other Ophi either. Have you tried mixing your blood?”

  He nodded. “When I heard you could do it, I tried every day. I hoped I could do it, too. I can’t.” His voice was full of disappointment.

  “All right. Then send me the life-restoring blood. Only the life-restoring blood.”

  “I just said I can’t mix—oh wait, you don’t trust me. You think I’m going to dose you with poison.”

  The others were still staring, but they weren’t close enough to hear us. Except for Alex. He was staying in earshot. “You’ve done it numerous times before. This is what I’m talking about, Chase. How can I trust you or want to work with you when you’re purposely hurting me? If I’m skeptical of you, it’s because you’ve made me be this way.”

  His face turned crimson with anger. “If I were you, I’d help me calm down before I lose it and my blood takes over.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Are you saying you can’t control your emotions? That you haven’t been hurting me on purpose? Are you blaming your blood for what you’ve done to me?”

  “Haven’t you blamed your emotions and blood for raising the cemetery countless times?” He yanked his hands down, pulling me directly over the grave. I stumbled forward, but he caught me. “We’re not that different.” He pressed his lips to mine, and I realized he was trying to calm down. He wasn’t trying to use his powers on me. I gave in because I didn’t want his poisoned blood to cripple me and stop me from raising this soul. I let him kiss me until his hands unclenched.

  I pulled back slowly. “Are you okay now?”

  “Fine. I hate that you can turn me into a monster.”

  “Funny, I feel the same way about you.”

  He smiled. “We’re either going to make the perfect couple or we’re going to kill each other, aren’t we?”

  I laughed it off, but inside I knew it would probably be the latter of the two.

  “You two going to actually raise something today, or did you just come here to make out on top of the graves?” Alex yelled.

  I jumped, and I felt Chase tense up again. Crap! After I’d just calmed him down.

  “Not your problem, Alex,” I called, keeping my eyes locked on Chase.

  Chase smiled again. I was getting better at fooling him.

  “Okay, let’s try this.” We joined hands and closed our eyes. “On three.” I felt Chase’s power already flowing to me. For a second I wanted to let him dose me with that amazing energy. I was high on it, but I knew I had to transfer my power to him. I willed my blood to mix, feeling it bubble beneath my skin. I sent him a little at first, waiting to see how he’d respond. I opened my eyes so I could watch his reaction. He threw his head back and laughed, obviously loving the feeling. I gave him a little more power before I reached out toward the underworld.

  It took me a second to realize Chase wasn’t helping. He was too busy enjoying the power surging through him. “Chase, I need your help. Stay with me.”

  “Sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry at all. “Is this how I make you feel? Because this is seriously awesome stuff. No wonder you throw yourself at me when I touch you.”

  I felt my cheeks redden. Alex and the others were watching. I hoped they were far enough away not to hear Chase.

  Chase pulled me closer to him. He was acting exactly like I did when he used his power on me. He wanted to wrap his arms around me, but I couldn’t let him break our connection or mess up what we were trying to do. I clenched his hands tighter and gently pushed him back.

  “Focus. Reach for the soul with me.”

  “Only if you promise we can do this again later when we won’t be interrupted by souls.”

  I sighed, partly because Alex was having to watch all this and I knew it was killing him, but mostly because I understood why Chase wanted to connect like this more. I wanted it, too. I had to stay focused. I had to find a good use for the power Chase and I had.

  “I promise,” I said.

  Chase squeezed my hands, and I felt the power circle through us. He was concentrating now, helping me call out to the souls Hades had taken. I settled for the first one that answered us. It was a woman. She came with us willingly at first, which was a nice surprise. Usually the souls didn’t want to come with us. But when she realized it wasn’t her body we were trying to put her in, she freaked. Her soul lashed out at us. Her screams rang through my head.

  Chase squeezed me tighter. He heard her, too. For the first time, he could hear the torment the souls went through when we raised them. It was good to sense him cringing. It meant he was capable of emotion. So far today, he’d shown me that side of him more than once. It was a side of him I didn’t hate.

  His breathing became heavy and labored. He clenched my hands so hard it hurt. He was getting angry at the soul. I worried what he’d do. What he’d make me do.

  “Chase, relax. It’s always like this, only you never heard or felt it before. This is what I experience every time I raise a soul. It’s awful, I know, but don’t let it overtake you. Push it out of your mind.”

  His hands and arms shook. I had to get him to calm down. I stepped closer to him without breaking our connection, not that I could with how tightly he was holding my hands.

  “Chase, I’m right here. Focus on me. Focus on our power. Forget the soul. I’ll handle her.”

  He grunted as the soul screamed so loudly I thought my eardrums would burst. She whipped around us, not wanting to get near the body we were standing above. She tried to force us apart. Chase was losing it. His anger flared up, and I felt his blood change.

  “No, Chase! Don’t!” He was going to poison the soul, and in doing so, he was going to poison me.

  I sent more life-restoring power to him, no longer mixing my blood but forcing concentrated bursts of the energizing power to Chase. I hoped that would snap him out of it. Instead, he countered with a shot of poison.

  The soul and I screamed in agony at the same time. Chase was hurting us both. I stopped transferring power to him, too weak to give him any more. His poisoned blood was taking over mine. My vision blurred. My hearing dimmed, but I could still hear the soul screeching at us. My screams stopped, turning to choking instead. I fell to my knees, my hands still in Chase’s. He wasn’t stopping. I coughed up blood, staining the dirt beneath me.

  Then the soul stopped screaming. Chase let go of me, and I slumped onto the grave. There were more screams, and feet shuffled against the ground. Someone slid on the dirt next to me.

  Alex was at my side, cradling my head in his lap. “Jodi! Jodi, can you hear me?” His hands were caressing my face.

  “Did you kill her?” Lexi asked Chase, not sounding all that concerned.

  I could barely see through the blood filling my eyes, but I could make out Chase staring at me.

  “We did it. She’s in there.” He pointed to the ground beneath me.

  “What, in Jodi?” Leticia asked. “You put the soul in Jodi?”

  “No, in there.” Chase continued to point, not paying any attention to me.

  I felt something claw at my back before two decaying arms came up out of the ground and wrapped around me.

  Chapter 24

  I was virtually powerless. Chase had dosed me with so much poison I couldn’t defend myself against the corpse. Alex pried the arms from my waist.

  “Leticia, get Jodi out of here!” he yelled. Before Leticia could get to me, Chase scooped me into his arms. He sent waves of life-restoring power to me, and I instantly started to perk up. I wrap
ped my arms around him and leaned my head against his chest so I was touching him and soaking up his energy in as many places as possible.

  “Don’t release that soul,” Chase said. “We fought too hard to get it here. That’s not even the soul’s body. Jodi is going to want to see this when she’s feeling up to it.”

  I heard Chase command the soul to stay where it was, but mostly I was aware of how much I wanted to be close to him. He looked down at me, concern on his face. “I’ve got you. Take as much as you need.”

  Why did he have to be two such completely different people? If he was always like this, he really could give Alex some competition. But the fact that Chase had nearly killed me two minutes ago made me realize that, no matter how nice he was on occasion, he was still mostly evil.

  “You can stop now,” I told him. “I feel fine.”

  “You sure? I don’t mind connecting with you again. If you think that would help. In fact, I’d love to. I’m sure these guys wouldn’t mind babysitting the soul for us.” He turned to Alex. “What do you say, Alex? Can you watch this corpse while me and my girl get some private time?”

  “Stop it.” I smacked his chest. “Put me down. I’m fine now.”

  He put me down, but he didn’t let go of my hand. “Just in case,” he said, and I knew he wasn’t talking about me needing a little more energy from him. He was making sure I didn’t step out of line. So much for the temporary glimpse of good I had seen.

  I walked toward the corpse with Chase at my side. “We didn’t have your body to return you to,” I said to the soul. “Hades took it, but we need to speak with you, so we’re letting you borrow this body for now. Do you understand?”